Another Romanian national wanted in fraud investigation in Durham

Project Jetsetter, a major investigation into organized ‘criminal tourism’ activity in Durham Region and across the GTA that resulted in 46 arrests and 164 more wanted by police, can add another name to the list after an arrest warrant was issued for a Romanian man who bought a vehicle from a dealership in Pickering with fake documents and shipped the vehicle overseas.

Durham Police said Alin Gabriel Nicolae, 36, visited the dealership on Dec. 30 and used fraudulent documents to purchase a 2021 BMW X5 SUV valued at $55,000. The vehicle was then shipped out of Canada before police were able to intervene.

Nicolae Alin Gabriel is wanted for four separate fraud charges, including possession of stolen property for the purpose of trafficking and disposing of property to avoid creditors.

Anyone with information about this or similar incidents is asked to contact D/Cst. Taylor of the Financial Crimes Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5283.

Investigators believe this scam is linked to an organized group involved in criminal tourism, an emerging threat that impacts communities across Canada. Offenders are entering Canada legally on tourist visas with the specific intent to commit a multitude of crimes before either fleeing the country or evading immigration officials by overstaying their legal visa periods, police said.

“Offenders are often part of a larger organized criminal network whose activities can include fraud, theft, property crime, identity theft, financial scams, and other organized crime behaviours. These criminal tourists are using sophisticated methods to avoid detection, including moving between regions, using false identities, and exploiting legal loopholes. “

Project Jetsetter, with Durham Regional Police in the lead role, targeted organized groups travelling to Canada for the purpose of executing high-profit crimes, often connected to international criminal networks, with 77 of the those caught up in the investigation from Romania.

“These activities are deliberate, coordinated, and profit-driven; not random or opportunistic,” said Durham Police Chief Peter Moreira.

Through more than nine separate investigations and more than 5,000 investigative hours, the Durham Police Financial Crimes Unit tracked more than 200 incidents tied to criminal tourism, resulting in more than $2.61 million in confirmed financial losses in Durham Region alone.